Indian rapper, singer, songwriter and music producer Badshah has just released his new album “Ek Tha Raja” (Literally, There Was a King).
It is the third studio album by the musician born Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, popularly known as Badshah, after “ONE (Original Never Ends)” (2018) and “The Power of Dreams of a Kid” (2020). He also has several hit singles to his credit, and has contributed to several Bollywood soundtracks including “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” (2014), and “Khandani Shavakhana” (2019), where he also made his acting debut playing a star Musically, “Jawan” (2023) starring Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
Khan narrates the album’s announcement video, a four-minute cinematic filled with armed gangsters, helicopters, private jets and lavish mansions. Badshah contacted the Khan administration at the last minute with a request for the novel. “The next day I got a half-hour file containing those seven dialogues spoken with different emotions and that day I discovered why Shah Rukh Khan is Shah Rukh Khan because once he is in it, he gives 200% of his energy and he is very nice. All those things,” Badshah said. What I heard about him is true.” diverse.
In Ek Tha Raja, Badshah, who works with Universal Music Group, performs with several guest musicians, including Morocco’s Draganov, Canada’s Nora Fatehi, and a slew of Indian acts including Karan Ujla, Hiten, Divine and Nikhita Gandhi, Raftaar, and Astha Gill. , Seedhe Maut, Kr$na, Prajina, Shai, MC Stan, Mehar Vaani, Ikka, Dino James, Fotty Seven, Raga and Sharvi Yadav. He also duets with Arijit Singh, arguably the most famous Bollywood singer today, on the song “Soulmate”.
“I was really excited to work with Arijit Singh because he is someone I looked up to. What’s more, I was happy to be in his company and learn a lot of things from him. He is like a higher power to me,” said Badshah. “I composed and wrote the lyrics of the song and sent it to him.” . When she came back, the song was different. I was literally crying listening to my track with his voice. It was an almost supernatural catharsis.
Badshah says he was excited to work with all the guest artists on the album. “I’ve worked with them in the past, but this was their space. So, this time I was like, ‘I have a rhythm, I have something I’d like you to accomplish.’ That’s how I imagined seeing them all in my world,” Badshah said.
The world of ‘Ek Tha Raja’ is Badshah’s retrospective on his decade in the industry and celebrates the mix of emotions, including happiness, sadness, love, anger and frustration that he experienced as an artist. “I consider myself a listener too, and I can feel the generation changing. I was trying to find myself, my personality, my new voice, the direction I want to go in, the narrative I want to build for myself, the stories I want to tell, and then (“Eek” ) The Badshah said: “Tha Raja”) was the result of all this contemplation.
Badshah says that as part of the generational change he experienced, he felt that voices, stories and mindsets were also changing, and he initially tried to change himself. “Then I just realized that people want to hear who I am. And people like me for who I am. So, I don’t need to change. And that’s what I did with this album, I collaborated with some new artists who are doing really good work. I got out of my zone, I got them out of Their areas, we came to a middle place and tried to create a new sound. And that’s the joy of collaboration. “When two songs collide, it’s like merging two colors to make a new color,” Badshah said.
One of those artists who started working on their new album even with the release of the current album, Badshah is searching for the right sound for his next journey. While that takes hold, he will embark on the 2024 Pagal Tour with concerts in Toronto (May 31), Vancouver (June 1), San Francisco (June 7), Houston (June 8), Dallas (June 9) and New Jersey. Jersey (June 15) Travel dates for Singapore, Washington DC, Los Angeles and the Netherlands will be announced soon. This comes after a sold-out tour in 10 cities across India.
Besides the songs ‘Ek Tha Raja’, the concert playlist includes his previous songs ‘Jugnu’, ‘Paani Paani’, ‘Garmi’, ‘DJ Waale Babu’, ‘Lets Nacho’, ‘Kala Chashma’, “Kar Gayi Chull”, “Jinda Phool”, “Abhi Toh Parti Shuro Hui Hai” and “Pagal”.
“I give them a good time. This is what I keep saying, there is a lot of stress in people’s lives. When they come to my concert, they forget everything and just indulge in fun and entertainment. Maybe they love me, maybe they adore me, when I interact with them I feel a lot of love,” he said. Badshah: “I’m like my cousin who started the party.”
The song “Ek Tha Raja” was released by Universal Music Group.